ESC: Applying Instructions

Apply for European Solidarity Corps Volunteering! The first step is to register oneself for the European Solidarity Corps Portal and search from there interesting voluntary work positions.

Register for the European Solidarity Corps Portal. The registration does not yet oblige you to participate. Introduce yourself in the My Profile section of the portal and then, look for available positions in the Placements section.

• Apply for the positions which interest you by clicking “Apply” on the information page positions.
• If you get contacted by the voluntary workplace for which you applied, you can tell that your sending support organization in Finland is Maailmanvaihto – ICYE Finland. The information of Maailmanvaihto is PIC number 946737364 and accreditation code 2016-1-FI101-KA110-026523.
• Through the portal also other voluntary workplaces may contact you. You can either accept or decline their offer.
• If you want to accept a volunteering position that has been offered to you so that Maailmanvaihto is your sending support organization, please contact us after you have received a volunteering offer.

Project support funding is applied for ESC volunteering periods from the European Union. If a voluntary workplaces wishes to receive you as a volunteer, we will assist them in writing the funding application. Also, if needed, we support you and your voluntary workplace in keeping in contact with each other.

• In 2020 the funding application deadlines are 5.2., 30.4. and 1.10.
• Usually, the voluntary workplaces choose their volunteers about the latest a month before the deadline for submitting the funding application.
• Usually, a decision on the approval of the funding application is made within about two months from the deadline for submitting the application.
• The voluntary work can usually begin 3–8 months after the deadline for submitting the funding application.

2. Search for volunteering possibilities also from other databases

You can also search for open positions from the EU’s Volunteering projects information database and ask for a possible open position from the receiving organizations in the EVS Accredited Organisations database.

• Send for the project a motivation letter in which you tell why this certain project interests you and what you could offer for the work community (skills you have gained through hobbies or working, IT skills, and language skills, for instance). You can make your motivation letter in any form – as a video, for instance – if the project does not wish for a particular form.
• It is good to include in the motivation letter a brief description of your personality and to mention in it that your sending organization is Maailmanvaihto – ICYE (see our information from section 1).
• Add along with your motivation letter a Curriculum Vitae in English. A photo is a nice addition.
• Send a copy of your application message to Maailmanvaihto at maailmanvaihto@maailmanvaihto.fi.

3. ESC projects of the ICYE network

Through the ICYE network, we can send EVS volunteers to Austria, Iceland, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Russia, Slovakia, and Switzerland (EVS). The volunteers mainly work among disabled people or children, and the voluntary work period usually begins in August–September. The application periods vary according to the country, but for most projects, the application period is in January. We inform about the available projects and about applying for them on our website.

In all the options we interview the applicant, usually after the voluntary workplace has been confirmed, and we make the project funding application together with the receiving organization for the national agency of the European Solidarity Corps either in the destination country or in Finland.